Archived News
RHOA Spring 2010 Newsletter
Download the Spring 2010 newsletter. (5mb pdf)
FEBRUARY KICKS OFF RHOA MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
February kicks off our Reservation HOA Membership Drive, and there are a few big improvements this year. As before, membership is only $20 and we need YOUR support. Since your home is probably your largest investment, doesn't it make sense to invest just $20 to protect our neighborhood? Along with making that investment in your neighborhood, there are a few new benefits this year:
• Every 2011 RHOA family receives a $10 Gift Certificate to Sonny Bryans Barbecue.
• Every 2011 member home will receive a "RHOA Member" yard sign to show your support for your neighborhood.
• Only 2011 members will receive the 2010 Reservation Members Directory.
As a Reservation resident, we hope that you appreciate this great neighborhood! We want to keep our neighborhood a safe and vibrant place to live, and continue building a sense of hospitality and connection that reinforces this as a neighborhood that you are proud to call home. Your participation is the key to a building and preserving this great neighborhood.
Our HOA is 425 members strong and our goal this year is to grow to 600. We need your involvement now more than ever.
Here are a few important ways the RHOA helps your community:
• The Reservation HOA has recently begun a Crime Watch Patrol that is patrolling our neighborhood to keep crime away from YOUR home.
• The Reservation HOA has a wide range of social activities including the Neighborhood Block Party, the neighborhood Garage Sale, the Holiday Lighting Contest, the Reservation Connection, the National Night out, and the annual Fourth of July Parade & Picnic.
• The RHOA works to maintain neighborhood integrity, to keep our home values high.
• The Richardson Police Department communicates regularly with the RHOA to inform us of criminal activity in our neighborhood, which we forward to all RHOA members via email.
If you would like to give above and beyond, the HOA has specific accounts set up for beautification, the 4th of July party, and other events.
The Reservation is a warm and wonderful place to live. To preserve it - and to make it even better - we need your support for your Reservation HOA. Whether you own or rent your home, you are welcome to join the RHOA, so please join or renew your membership today! Just complete the membership form today (click on Membership), and mail along with your $20 check to: RHOA Membership, Box 835253, Richardson, TX 75083-5253 or take your check to the Block Captain on your street.
This is an exceptional neighborhood, let's work together to make the Reservation an even more wonderful place to live!
Sincerely,
The Reservation HOA Board
RESERVATION HOA PASSES 400 MEMBERS
Thank you to all the Reservation residents who have recently joined or renewed membership in the HOA. Because of your support, we now have surpassed 400 members!!
And a special “thank you” to all the Reservation Block Captains who have walked their streets to deliver information and to meet with their neighbors about this great neighborhood. Our Block Captains are the best!
If you’ve been meaning to join, the membership form is on the website under “membership.” Just $20 helps your HOA to unite the community and to improve the quality of life of our residents, while serving to protect you and your investment. Join the Reservation HOA today. It takes all of us make a neighborhood great and to keep the Reservation a special place to live.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
RESERVATION ALIVE WITH CHRISTMAS DISPLAYS
The Reservation was alive this year with bright holiday decorations. After much deliberation, the long list of great displays was whittled to the top five homes and top block in the neighborhood:
Five Best Decorated Homes
1312 Chickasaw
1110 Navaho
1333 Cherokee
1232 Mohawk
1324 Cottonwood
For the second straight year, the Best Block winner:
Mohawk Trail
Congratulations to the winners! And, congratulations to all the homes in the Reservation that have joined together this year to brighten our neighborhood with your beautiful Christmas displays.
HOLIDAY NIGHT
The Reservation HOA Board handed out hot cider and holiday greetings to more than 90 neighbors in December as part of the RHOA's second annual Holiday Night. Reservation residents drove or walked the neighborhood to see the Christmas lights, and then stopped by Mimosa Park for cider.
RHOA Fall 2010 Newsletter
Download the Fall 2010 newsletter. (7.4mb pdf)
MEMBERS VOTE BY WIDE MARGIN TO RETAIN NAME
At a well-attended Annual Meeting, Reservation HOA members overwhelming defeated a proposal to change the Association's name, with 96% of members voting to retain the "Reservation" name.
More than 200 residents attended the meeting. Also, a resolution was overwhelmingly approved, with more than 90% of residents voting to recognize "The Reservation" as the official name of the neighborhood, to be used in entryway signs and other neighborhood identifiers. Along with votes tallied at the meeting, residents unable to attend the meeting had expressed support for the "Reservation" name by a margin of 135-to-14.
The membership heard one presentation against our name and then one presentation in favor before voting.
Reservation HOA President Darrell Day pointed out that 90% of American Indians living in our neighborhood had expressed strong support for the name, and also explained that the "Reservation" name is a valuable branding tool, since it's the only name by which Richardson Realtors know the neighborhood.
In other business at Sunday's meeting, Tom Courtney received a Lifetime Achievement Award for more than 10 years of work in handling Reservation email communication. Tom Calvert received the 2010 Volunteer of The Year Award for organizing the Reservation Crime Watch Patrol. The Membership also approved 2011 officers:
• Darrell Day as President
• Brandi Kessels as Vice President
• Justin McMillin as Treasurer
• Larry Bogart as Secretary
The membership approved three additional Board positions in 2011, Membership Director, Communications Director and Events Director, with those new Board positions yet to be filled.
CRIME LOWER IN RESERVATION
Your Reservation Crime Watch Patrol is still working hard to keep our neighborhood safer.
The Reservation area had no major crimes during July. During the month, the Reservation CWP’s 28 members had 49.8 hours of patrol time by 19 people,with Kim Stadelman logging the most patrol hours. During the month, we added three new CWP members — Zes and Mary Scott, and Ross Walker.
The Richardson Police Department has announced that the overall crime in Richardson was down during the first 6 months of 2010, and also noted that crime in areas with active Homeowners Association areas is 50% lower than crime in the non-HOA areas. Furthermore, the crime in HOA areas with Crime Watch Patrols — like the Reservation — is only 25% of the levels of crime in non-HOA areas.
Reservation HOA President Darrell Day said that if you’re interested in joining the Reservation Crime Watch Patrol and helping keep our neighborhood safe, the next CWP training class is on Aug. 23-24.
Note: Read the Dallas Morning News (9-5-2010) story on Richardson's Crime Watch Patrols and how they have reduced crime obver the last year.
RESERVATION VOTERS TURN OUT AGAIN
Mohawk Elementary had the strongest voter turnout of any polling place in Richardson for the Nov. 2 election, as 1,362 voters turned out to vote in Precinct 1703. The neighborhood voted overwhelming Republican, with 668 voting straight GOP, compared to 200 voting straight Democratic. The neighborhood voted overwhelming for a Reservation resident running for County Judge, as Dan Montalvo carried Precinct 1703 by a whopping 660 votes. But on a night that Republicans did well nationwide, the GOP fared poorly in Dallas County races as Montalvo lost to Democratic candidate Julia Hayes in the race for Dallas County Criminal Court, No. 2.
In the previous election - for the City of Richardson bond proposal last Spring - Mohawk also was the top voting precinct in the City, with 120 more voters than any other polling place in the city casting their ballots.
RESERVATION BOARD WORKING ON SURVEY ISSUES
Thank you to the residents who took the time to complete the last survey by the Reservation HOA Board. We had a very strong response to the on-line survey...198 respondents.
Based on these findings, the HOA Board has held a series of meetings with City of Richardson staff to determine which of the survey ideas were legal and financial viable, and began to devise solutions for some of the most pressing concerns. The most compelling finding of the survey was a tremendous majority of respondents - 90% - believed it to be "important," "very important" or "extremely important" to beautify our neighborhood. That number gives us very strong impetus to ramp up the beautification effort.
One interesting finding was that many Reservation residents want our neighborhood to be better lit, and the Board has begun to formulate some ideas to address that issue.
Very strong response was displayed for entryway signage and improvement or replacement of Coit and Arapaho walls. The strongest response was to the neighborhood eyesore - the Coit wall viewed by 53,000 motorists every day. Nearly 60% of respondents thought it was a "good" or "excellent" idea to replace the brick wall along Coit Road. As one respondent explained, "The Arapaho and Coit brick walls are so outdated and just an eyesore and need to be replaced." Another respondent said the Coit structure "looks like a prison wall." In response to this issue, the Reservation Board has been working with a Texas registered Landscape Architect who lives in the Reservation to develop design ideas to improve entryways and the look of the Coit and Arapaho walls.
To completely understand the feelings of Reservation residents, the Board is preparing a second survey to help us prioritize the issues that you want to address. Based on your ideas and concerns voiced in the recent on-line survey, the Reservation HOA has begun work prioritizing and studying the issues that were raised. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done, but here are a few issues raised by residents that have been addressed so far:
• Mimosa Park and adjoining creek were cleaned during April 3 "Trash Bash".
• An idea for planting perennials around Mohawk Elementary has been forwarded to the Mohawk PTA.
• HOA Board has had meetings with City officials on safety issue at the Glen Cove/Arapaho intersection. Bushes obstructing the sight lines have been cut back, but the problem remains and City officials are further studying the issue.
• "Active Crime Watch Patrol" signs have been erected.
• A Texas registered Landscape Architect has begun working on entryway design elements for the Reservation.
• HOA Board has met with City officials on Arapaho Road design elements and plants.
• HOA Board has talked with City officials about Mimosa Drive crosswalk proposal, and awaiting definitive response.
RESERVATION BLOCK PARTY SEPTEMBER 25
Mark your calendars for Saturday, Sept. 25, 5:30 pm - 8 pm at Mimosa Park for the second annual Neighborhood Block Party, and come ready to have some fun!
This time around we’ve lined up J.D. Munson Band, a 4-piece country and western band to headline our “Reservation Roundup” party. Come out ready to dance, or just sit back and relax and enjoy some great music. The band will be set up at Mimosa Park, so bring a picnic blanket or chairs and get there early to get a good spot.
Hot Dogs, chips, cookies, water, sweet tea and juice boxes will be available. First come, first serve on the food so please come early if you plan to eat with us.
Any of you who are available to volunteer - we need you! We need help with setting up, grilling the meat, and helping serve food. Please email Natalie Martin at nataliebmartin@me.com if you are interested. Also, we will be accepting donations (suggesting $2/person) at the event to cover the costs of the entertainment. If you are a business owner and would like to help sponsor our event, please contact Natalie Martin.
Thank you to the following local businesses for donating food, drinks and paper goods for our party:
Sonny Bryan’s
Walmart Neighborhood Market
Whole Foods
Duff Bourassa, State Farm Agent
And a special “thank you” to Carol Marks of the Reservation for helping us find this great country-western band!
Come join the fun Saturday, Sept. 25 for the Reservation Round-Up!
HOA 2009 Annual Meeting Highlights Progress
Reservation HOA President Darrell Day called the recent Annual Meeting to order and gave a state of the HOA address, which included the highlights from the past year such as:
• Grew membership in the HOA by about 25%, and have doubled membership in the past two years.
• Began the highly popular Reservation Connection program, with nearly 150 people participating in various neighborhood events.
• Implemented Phase 1 of the sign topper program and beginning Phase 2. Look for additional sign toppers soon!
• Increased the number of block captains.
• Held the first Reservation Candidate Forum for candidates for the Richardson City Council race.
• Reservation HOA had great participation in events such as the neighborhood garage sale, pool party, 4th of July parade and picnic, and the first Big Band Block Party.
• Updated and improved our website.
• Initiated contacts with the City of Richardson about upcoming capital improvement needs within the Reservation.
We also welcomed the Richardson Police Chief, Jim Spivey, who spoke about the Neighborhood Police Officer Program and the desire for us to create a neighborhood Crime Watch Patrol. Several volunteers stepped forward to begin the process of creating the Patrol.
We recognized several volunteers for their work in making our neighborhood a better place to live. Mick Nolen - 2008 President, Dennis Guten - for redesigning our HOA website, and Amber McCreery - for her tireless efforts in starting the Reservation Connection program.
The HOA also approved two amendments to its bylaws - one declaring Jan. 1 as the starting date for new officers, and another to establish the Reservation Connection as a standing committee of the Association.
And finally, we held the election of the 2010 RHOA officers. The officers for 2010 are as follows:
• President - Darrell Day
• Vice President - Sean Weigler
• Treasurer - Brandi Kessels
• Secretary - Amber McCreery
As a reminder, the membership drive for 2010 will begin in January. Dues will remain $20 for the year, a small price to pay to invest in our neighborhood. As always, additional donations are always appreciated.
Big Band Block Party had Neighbors Dancing
"I love our neighborhood, and events like these just make it better."
Some 75 neighbors came out for the first annual Reservation Big Band Block Party in Mimosa Park. Couples were dancing on the sidewalk... neighbors were chatting... music lovers were enjoying the evening in their lawn chairs... and children were playing on the playground as the sun set on a lovely evening.
Neighbors brought their own picnic dinners and then listened to the Brass Quintet of the Richardson Symphony play Benny Goodman and old Beatles tunes in an event sponsored by the Reservation Homeowners Association.
"It was a great night for the kids to get to run around the park in the dark, and reminded me of growing up and being able to have such freedom," said Kathy Zolton. "It was nice to have an easily accessible and nicely priced evening and meet some fabulous neighbors. I love our neighborhood, and events like these just make it better." Added Ed and Carol Blamire, "We had a great time at the Block Party last night. Thanks to all the people who worked on getting this set up!"
The band was introduced by George Landis, Executive Director of the Richardson Symphony and a resident of The Reservation. The Richardson Symphony Brass quintet that played in Mimosa Park has been performing together as a group for over five years, and the group regularly programs a wide variety of repertoire from classical and light classical works, to Broadway and film tunes to jazz and Dixieland.
The Reservation has been described as "like a small town," and the neighborhood-wide Block Party was an opportunity for people to get better acquainted with our neighbors. "Food, fellowship and music in Mimosa Park - this event had it all," said HOA President Darrell Day. "We were happy with the attendance, and people seemed to really enjoy the Block Party."